Robot 6

Comics A.M. | Dave Gibbons on digital; Stan Lee cancels appearance

Digital comics | Watchmen co-creator David Gibbons discusses the comics he’s making for the Madefire digital app: “The term that we bandied around was that reading comics on the Madefire platform is a bit like reading comics on “intelligent” paper in that it’s got all the virtues of regular paper but it can do a whole lot of other things that a printed version can’t. There are wonderful things it can do with movement of the tablet, with animated transitions, and with ambient and event sound. We’ve also talked about creating the new grammar of graphic storytelling.” [ICv2]

Creators | A sold-out appearance by Stan Lee scheduled for Sept. 27 at Ohio’s Toledo-Lucas County Public Library has been canceled because of what the legendary writer’s agent reportedly described as “a very serious circumstance.” The library had sold 2,300 tickets for the “Authors! Authors!” series event, which had already been moved from April 18 because of a scheduling conflict. Lee, who turns 90 in December, cut short some public appearances in May, with a spokesman citing promotional fatigue and the death of Lee’s longtime business associate Arthur Lieberman. [Toledo Blade]

Education | Adam Kubert, son of the late Joe Kubert, discusses the future of the Kubert School, which he will continue to manage with his brother Andy. [Newsarama]

Between Gears

Creators | Natalie Nourigat talks about Between Gears, her more recent work, and Portland, Oregon: “In terms of comics it is absolutely as big a comics town as people make it out to be. It’s a low cost of living art friendly community, three big publishers, lots of great comic shops, and a couple of good conventions so it’s a perfect mix for cartoonists and a really fun place to live if you are one.” [Spandexless]

Retailing | Here’s an inside look at SuperHeroStuff.com, the Internet retailer that sells, not comics, but comics-related merchandise. The company is headquartered in Snoqualmie, Washington, but its warehouse is in Pennsylvania, and it has grown from three employees to 26 in the past three years — pretty impressive in these times. Up till now the company’s bread and butter has been direct sales to consumers, but it has just started a wholesale program. Retailer Joe Miller is one of its first customers: “Miller said the problem with comic book distributors is there is no surplus. When products sell out, shelves are not restocked. In the agreement with SuperHeroStuff, The Comic Store will get a percentage of sales and popular items will remain stocked on store shelves.” [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

Retailing | Huntsville, Alabama, comics shop The DeeP is supporting the troops with comics — it’s taking up a collection to send to soldiers deployed in the Middle East. [al.com]

By Dylan Meconis

Advice | Is there a way we could have this appended to the AP Stylebook? Fresh from her stint as an Ignatz Awards juror, Dylan Meconis has a great post on the top ten mistakes that writers make when writing about comics. Most of them are rookie mistakes, the sort you see when reporters who don’t really know the field try to write about comics, but it has plenty of good advice for all of us. [Dylan Meconis]

Manga | Jason Thompson reads all 23 volumes of Fruits Basket, arguably the best shoujo manga in English, in a single sitting. [Anime News Network]